The Alpha's to Share: A BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (11 page)

Wyatt had always liked to cause trouble for Seth. Although they were close as brothers, they clashed from time to time over pack business and occasionally over the pack females. Seth had never been all that interested in the females, but whenever he would pay any attention to one, Wyatt would immediately set his sights on her. Seth had always just turned a blind eye, because he never cared for them as anything more than a quick romp, anyway. But Callie was different. He really cared for her, and he wanted her all to himself.

In fact, Seth was already so protective over Callie that he felt he would fight to the death for her if need be. She was his, assuming she agreed to be his mate, and he would let no one near her, especially Wyatt.

As they approached the den entrance, he pushed aside a large overhang of moss and ivy, which obstructed the entrance from view so well that Callie gasped at its cleverness.

“Wow!” she gushed. “I never would have known this was here! It looks just like the side of the hill!”

“We must do everything we can to avoid detection,” Seth explained. “We do occasionally get human hunters and campers in these parts, though how they manage to travel this far into the mountains I’m not certain.”

“Backpackers, maybe,” Callie remarked.

“Hm?”

“Backpackers,” she repeated. “Sometimes they travel for miles through the forest or mountains looking for remote places to camp in privacy.”

“Interesting,” said Seth. “I didn’t know humans could be so adept at survival.”

“Some can,” she said. “Me? I’d be screwed if I ended up alone in the forest. I have no idea how to find food or shelter or clean water… I’d be dead in days, if not hours.”

“Please don’t speak of your death again,” Seth said immediately, his stomach aching at the thought. His face contorted with dismay.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, a little confused. “I didn’t realize it would affect you so much.”

“Callie, there is something you need to understand about shifters,” said Seth. “We form bonds much faster than humans. We… we can sense feelings and emotions on a level that humans cannot. It makes it much easier, and faster, to grow close to someone. I feel like I’ve known you for years already.”

“Wow, I never realized that,” she said quietly.

“I know that it may take some time for you to…”

“Wait,” she interrupted him. “I think you’re expecting more from me than I’m prepared to give. I like you, I really do. I’m attracted to you, no doubt. But if I just agree to be your mate so soon, it would be for all the wrong reasons.”

“You don’t have to agree to anything you’re not prepared to agree to,” Seth assured her. “You may stay here as long as you like, and I will not pressure you into anything.”

Callie glanced through the doorway into the den and then looked back at him. She swallowed hard. She truly had nowhere else to go. So she steadied herself and entered the den with Seth following behind her.

“This little hallway leads to the common room,” he explained. “It’s the place where we all gather for meals and meetings.”

At the end of the short hallway, Callie entered a huge cavern. Along the wall she saw a rocky cliff rising with a stacked stone pathway leading upward. In the center was a huge bonfire, which was currently not burning. Overhead she saw an opening covered by a grate, which she guessed was meant for ventilation.

“Most of our meals are cooked and served here,” Seth told her. “The pinnacle overhead is where I sit when I wish to be alone but still able to oversee the activities. As my mate, you would be able to sit there with me if you wished.”

Callie heard a commotion down a corridor, and soon two young wolf pups came barreling through the room. One was clearly chasing the other, and the first dodged between Callie’s legs and nearly sent her toppling backward.

Seth bellowed with laughter as the second pup darted between her legs and the pair circled around the unlit bonfire and disappeared into the darkness.

“Are they yours?” Callie asked curiously.

Seth cleared his throat and said, “I do not have pups. They are orphans, brother and sister, who we took in after our pack killed their parents.”

“Killed their parents? What happened?”

“Their parents were part of a rival pack who tried to claim our territory,” Seth explained. “We had no choice but to defend ourselves, and their parents were unfortunate victims. But we couldn’t let the pups starve.”

“So you took in the children of your enemy,” she muttered in awe. “Very noble of you. Do they know?”

“They do,” he said. “They were very young when it happened, but they adjusted very well. We made sure to tell them their parents fought very bravely, and that we never wanted to kill them. They understand.”

“What are their names?”

“The little white one is the girl,” he answered. “Her name is Snow. The gray one, the boy, is named Hunter.”

“Hunter and Snow,” Callie said. “I like that.”

“They’re good kids,” Seth said. “A bit rowdy, but…”

Seth paused and sniffed the air, and his face hardened. Callie looked around, but saw nothing.

“Seth?”

“Wyatt, get out here,” Seth growled.

Wyatt suddenly emerged from the shadows with a grin on his face. His eyes feasted on Callie, and she shivered, stepping slightly behind Seth as if seeking protection.

“Aww, look, the human is frightened,” Wyatt chuckled.

“Wyatt,” Seth warned sharply.

“I’m just having a little fun,” Wyatt said. “Lighten up.”

“You see, this is why you’re not Alpha,” Seth spat.

“Touché,” Wyatt said. “We can’t all me Mr. Serious all the time like you, brother.”

“Perhaps not,” Seth agreed. “But everyone can be serious from time to time.”

“Oh, I am,” Wyatt said slyly, his eyes slowly casting themselves back upon Callie. “When the situation calls for it, I can be
very
serious.”

“Forget it, Wyatt,” Seth growled, his tone warning.

“What?” Wyatt shrugged innocently. He shot a wink at Callie, who quickly looked away.

In a rage, Seth flew at Wyatt, clutching his throat and slamming him against a wall. Wyatt’s eyes bulged, and he made a pitiful grunt as he struggled to breathe.

“Not… this… time…” Seth snarled. “This one… is mine!”

“Seth, stop!” Callie shrieked.

Seth felt Callie’s trembling hands on his biceps, and his grip momentarily tightened on Wyatt’s throat. He clutched it fiercely, as if ready to cut off his air permanently.

“Seth, please!” Callie wailed. “Stop!”

He could hear the distress straining her voice, and he could sense it oozing from her pores. Reluctantly, he released his brother, who slumped to the floor coughing and rubbing his throat.

Seth glared down at Wyatt with disdain as his brother struggled to catch his breath. Then Wyatt jumped to his feet and fled.

Callie stared slack jawed at Seth for a moment. Then she scoffed and, shaking her head in disbelief, ran off after Wyatt, leaving Seth scratching his head and wondering what he could have done differently.

Callie had no idea where she was going, but she limped through the dark, winding corridors of the den looking for Wyatt. She’d been following the sound of his footsteps, but at one point they went silent, and she continued on in the same direction, hoping to find him.

Suddenly, hands grabbed her, and she gasped as she was pulled into an offshoot corridor and pinned against the wall. Hands clutched tightly at her clothes.

“Wyatt?” she called into the darkness.

“Why did you follow me?” Wyatt demanded.

“I… I just wanted to see if you were alright,” she answered.

“Why?” he growled.

“I don’t like what Seth did back there,” she answered. “It scared me. It made me angry!”

“Do you want to know the truth, Callie?” Wyatt asked.

She nodded silently in the darkness.

“The truth is, I deserved it,” Wyatt said, releasing his grip on her clothing. “He had every right to do what he did. I don’t blame him.”

“What? How can you say that? You’re his brother!” Callie argued.

“He’s Alpha,” Wyatt said. “I disrespected him. Not only that, I did it in front of a potential mate.”

“That’s still no excuse,” Callie argued. “He never should have laid a hand on you like that.”

“You don’t understand,” Wyatt said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve…”

“What?”

“I’ve take other females from him before,” Wyatt admitted after a pause. “But he just let them go. I guess he didn’t care for them, anyway. I kind of assumed he would feel the same about you, but clearly I was mistaken.”

Callie shuddered, trying to avoid picturing Seth having been with any other female. Her nose wrinkled at the idea.

“Is this a game to you?” Callie asked incredulously. “He’s your brother! Why would you even go there?”

“Look, I’ve always enjoyed ruffling his feathers,” Wyatt said. “To be honest, I get a kick out of it because it’s the only control I have over anything. He’s the big, bad Alpha, and I’m just his Beta brother.”

“So that’s what that was,” Callie muttered.

“What?”

“The way you looked at me,” she answered. “The way you were acting. You were just trying to rile him up.”

“No, not at all,” Wyatt said.

“Then what was it?” she challenged him.

There was an awkward silence, and Callie internally cursed the darkness. She couldn’t see his face. She couldn’t try to decipher his expression.

“I just found you interesting,” he finally said.

“You found me interesting,” she parroted. “What does that mean?”

“The girls I took from him in the past were all pack members,” Wyatt said. “Just wolf girls. Playthings, really. They didn’t mean anything to either of us. That’s why Seth never put up a fight. He’d show interest in one of the females, and I’d go after her to spite him. He’d walk away, and then I’d do the same thing. We never really wanted any of them. So yes, that was a game.”

“So how am I any different?” she asked. “Am I just a curiosity because I’m human?”

“I’ve encountered humans before,” Wyatt said. “No, this is different. Shifters don’t work the same way as humans. We learn a lot about an individual just by smell and senses. While it might take a human days, weeks, even months to feel like they really know another person… a shifter can do that in moments.”

“It doesn’t seem possible,” she said softly.

“To us, it doesn’t seem possible to need weeks to get to know someone,” Wyatt said.

“I hate that I can’t see your face,” Callie told him. “It’s too dark.”